The Book of Shells: A Life-Size Guide to Identifying and Classifying Six Hundred Seashells (Life-Size Guides to the Best of Nature)

Excellent edition. Heavy book, conscientiously sent UPS in supporting box. Great vendor. Great price for item. Excellent service. Book itself and content comprehensive and attractively displayed. Thanks.

I bought this book in the hopes that it would be a great starting point as a shell collecting reference, and I have to say that I am extremely pleased with my purchase. PROS: Judging from what I have seen available this seems to be without a doubt the best value on your dollar. For $35 you are getting a beautiful hardcover book with excellent photos (NOT ILLUSTRATIONS) of 600 different species of mollusks. The species covered range from all over the world as well, even down to Anarctica. The descriptions are clear and concise, the related species sections are extremely helpful in identifying a species that may resemble what you are looking at, and this book also clearly shows range and distribution of each species described. Photos taken are both of the entire shell and accompanied by ones taken to indicate actual size. CONS: Although this book covers 600 species as I said in the title of this review it is quite broad but rather brief on each family of species. I live in the Marshall Islands so I bought this book in hopes of being able to identify a broader range of cowry shells I find on a regular basis but it only shows the major, more common species in the region. If you are looking for a more focused reference it may serve you better to find a book geared more towards the specific region in which you are doing your identifications. CONCLUSION: An EXCELLENT value for the quality of this product and an excellent coffee table ornament for any shell enthusiast. If you are an amature collector just getting started out like myself you will not be dissapointed, but for those with a more serious desire to know exactly what they are looking at I would suggest a pricier more specialized piece of reference literature.

Very detailed and pictures included.

This is a gorgeous book if you are amassing a library of shell books. I myself was just looking for a couple of volumes to give me some identification leads. This isn't that book! I would look for a few of the actual field guides of a particular area that you are interested in. I'm just buying shells now and then from various shops and so they are pretty much world-wide. Google has proven to be as handy as any book though I do have a copy of Smithsonian Handbook of shells that is quite informative.

Handsome book. Beautiful pictures. Informative.

Nice reference book. A little disappointed that there is not as many shells in book as I would have liked. Still a very good book and worth the investment, If you are a collector. This is not a coffee table book for your guests to look at. A suggestion for that would be "The World's Most Beautiful Seashells" (Hill & Carmichael).

This was a gift for my father-in-law who is in the local shell club here in Panama City, Florida. He was super thrilled to receive this wealth of information on shells that he so is enthralled with. Great find for him.

I first read about this book in the New York Times. It had good reviews and from the Times recommendation, I bought it. It is not the best of books for shell identification. Abbott's "Compendium of Seashells", is so far the best for identification. As a collector, naming the shells that you see or have is a great pleasure. This book still lacks the comprehensiveness of Abbott's, but it is fair enough. Compared to most other books, which are just art photographs, this one combines beautiful photography with enough entries to place your specimen. One wishes that there are more entries, but it is heavy enough. For the more advanced collector, it is sufficient. A point in its favor, that Abbott's doesn't have, is its "actual size" posting. For the professional collector, one has to go to regional books of shells of the regions. Alan Hinton's books of shells of the Australian and Papua New Guinea, and Fely Leobrera's "Shells of the Philippines", are very good in connecting one's knowledge about very common and rare shells. And for those who are starting, "Fields Guide to Shells" is the best.